The MUCH respected Civic Federation ( Fanfare of Trumpets Please!) wants Illinois Tax-payers to kick in more dollars that they don't have to pay for what Ralphie Martire* demanded and got from 2004 on!
Hey, The Sun Times said so!
That same tax increase has been advocated since 2004 by another civic watchdog group, the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability.
Allow us to soften the sticker shock of such a tax increase by putting it in context:
Ralph Martire takes money from people who earn salaries and provides cash, goods and services to people who do not.
In 2004. Ralph Martire, as he has done so all of his career, poached income from the Illinois Taxpayers, with the say-so and go-ahead of Illinois Progressives like his Chinaman Dawn Clark Netsch.
Akin to shooting a duck that lands on a farmer's land:
Ralph Martire shoots a duck out in the country - Kankakee,or Papineau, Illinois let's say. As he's retrieving it, a farmer walks up and stops him, claiming that since the duck is on his farm, it technically belongs to him - like his income. After minutes of arguing, the farmer proposes they settle the matter "country style."
"What's country style?" asks the city boy Ralphie.
"Out here in the country," the farmer says, "when two fellers have a dispute, one feller kicks the other one in the balls as hard as he can. Then that feller, why, he kicks the first one as hard as he can. And so forth. Last man standin' wins the dispute."
Warily the Tax Hawker Ralph Martire agrees and prepares himself. The farmer hauls off and kicks Ralph a good 'un in the groin with all his might. With now three Adam's Apples in his gullet Ralph Maartire falls to the ground in the most intense pain he's ever felt, crying like a baby and coughing up blood. Finally he staggers to his feet and says, "All right, n-now it's–it's m-my turn."
The farmer grins. "Aw, hell, you win. Keep the duck."
When every wage earner and tax-payer in Illinois gets to line up and go Country Style on Ralph Martire and the fine folks of the Civic Federation, a Doomsday Tax Increase will be just jake with me.
* January 1, 2001
Ralph Martire is executive director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability ( "CTBA"). He also serves as a regular columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, the State Journal-Register and The Herald News on issues involving government accountability, tax, fiscal and budget policies. Ralph served on the budget advisory board to Governor Rod Blagojevich's transition team, where he acted as chairperson of the state revenue subcommittee. Ralph was the principal author of a study CTBA produced that identified revenue enhancement proposals to address the 2002 fiscal crises in the state of Illinois. Five of the proposals identified in that study ultimately became law. Ralph also was a key member of the research team that produced the groundbreaking "State of Working Illinois" report, which detailed industry, employment, wage and benefit trends in Illinois over the last 15 years. A joint project of CTBA and Northern Illinois University, the State of Working Illinois has been featured in over 150 media (print and broadcast) placements nationwide.
Ralph was the recipient of the 2004 Ben C. Hubbard Leadership Award, presented annually by Illinois State University to an individual whose leadership has significantly benefited education in Illinois.
